It's Soulful and It's Survival: A Conversation with Four Drag Artivists in the South

On December 17, 2023, we talked for four hours with our favorite drag artivists in our new city of Charlotte, North Carolina: Oso Chanel, Nova Stella, Lolita Chanel, and Onya Nerves. These artists create drag that breaks the mold, enlarging the space for queerness, for all of us. In the South, that has the power to transform culture--a power sadly evidenced by the death threats and protests they face. Amid the rise of drag bans and anti-queer legislation and attacks, performing drag is activism. But these four performers also advocate for immigrants, HIV care, body positivity, POC performers, and performers who live with disabilities. They create small-town Pride celebrations and fight drag bans at city council meetings, urge their audiences to vote, and organize boycotts against racist bars. In this interview, they discuss the issues they're focused on as leaders in the queer community and the power of drag to create social change. Listening to them talk about facing down death threats and protests, on top of drag bans and anti-queer and trans bills, and the unique power of drag in the South, which they describe as being about survival and the creation of queer history, felt like a revolution in our living room. In the wake of great danger, these artivists continue to make and change history. We've recorded their voices in this book because we believe that they are vital to our queer history and our collective movement forward.